Department of Homeland Security prepares for abortion-related violence

Axios reports leaked memo, history indicates one side likely to be perpetrators

As I indicated in a previous newsletter, this apocalyptic narrative coming from the antiabortion movement as of late was merely a resurgence of what had spread in earlier generations. Axios recently reported that the Department of Homeland Security is investigating threats coming from antiabortion and abortion rights communities with the anticipated overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

What is missing from the report is the historical context. Government officials are treating each side as if they were equally capable of committing deadly violence when it’s only one side that has the record of committing it. 

I’ve spoken to many women whose clinics were bombed, set on fire, or attacked with butyric acid. Their stories will be featured prominently in my forthcoming book. Typically the targets of hatred from antiabortion extremists were the providers and staff themselves. But what may be on the horizon is the harassment and assault of grassroots activists, writers, and other leaders taking a prominent position within the reproductive rights movement. Higher-level leaders have always had to deal with that threat, with one influential feminist wearing a bullet-proof vest at the funeral of David Gunn, a doctor murdered in the early 1990s whose death galvanized Democrats to pass the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act. 

Much of the white genocide rhetoric has been linked to antisemitism, as author Carol Mason established in her book Killing for Life: The Apocalyptic Narrative of Pro-life Politics. A lot of what is known about the history of these conspiracies was made possible by pioneering researchers, but also by informants who infiltrated the opposition’s circles and relayed information back to feminist leaders. Such tactics may likely be necessary if violence or targeted harassment becomes the norm. Lower level leaders may have to cloak some of their own communication as well to not telegraph every tactic or plan on social media. 

Typically terroristic groups work in cells, a structure in which a small group of people is unaware of what other members of the larger network are doing. There are dozens of groups doing the same type of planning, but limiting their interaction makes it harder to gather intelligence on what they’re planning or preparing to do because a spy could only tell the other side what one specific cluster is doing. This approach would predictably be used in antiabortion circles if history is an indication.